Automobile locking device



rug, 20, 1929. p. Q PlNKERToN 1,725,158

AUTOMOBILE LOCKING DEVICE Filed June 20. 1927 Patented Aug. 20, 1929.

UNITED.. S'lIITEfSt FTENT GFF'ECE..

IPMERCT OF INDIANABOLIS; INDIANA.

AUTOMOBILE LOCKING DEVICE;

Application itlef June 20,

My, invention relatesto-a combined hood and ignition lookifor.automobiles and it is anfobject ofthe invention to provide meanswherebyv the owner. of an automobile may lock .thehood iny closedposition and break the ignitionrcircuit. by turning a key upon the;instrument board, and-it is also an-object. ofthe. inventionto provide adevice of thisl character which isof. great practical value.- forpreventing theft of automobiles but isof simple and, inexpensiveconstructionv and may be applied to an automobile of ordinary.or'standard construction without altering the same, allas will behereinafter more. fully described and claimed.

Referring. to the accompanying drawings which aremadea part hereof andon which similar reference characters indicate similar parts,

Figure 1 is aA fragmentary side elevation of an automobile Withpartsbroken away to illustrate the application of my invention,

Figure 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Figure 3 is a frontelevation of the switch housing.

Figure 4 is a rear elevation of the switch housing.

Figure 5 is a vertical section of the housmg.

Figure 6 isa perspective ofV one of the fastening,I elements mounted onthe `*inside ofthe'. hood.

In the drawings reference character 1() indicates an. automobilehaving ahood 11, a dash 12 and-an instrument boardl. Upon the instrument board13 is mounted a lock casing 14 in which is disposed a lock 15, said lockcasing and lock being secured to the instrument board by means of bolts16. The lock-.15 has a lock shaft 17 i connected thereto andV such shaftextends Vthrough the dash 12 and into a casing or housing 18 secured bylugs. 18 on the front side of said dash, said boltl 17 being adapted tobe operated by a key 19 inthe lock 15 at the front of the instrumentboard. The lock casing 14 is provided with aV4 closure plate or cover 20which has fixed thereto a sleeve or lock shaft housing 21 forprotectingthe locking bolt and preventing its being rotated except'by the key 19.This sleeve or casing 21 is preferably' hardened by heat treatment toprevent its being easily muti- 1927. Serial -Non 2m,183.

lated by saws or other similar instruments so that access may be had tothe lock shaft. The. casing or housing 18 is provided with front andrear compartments 22 and 23,

inthe formerl of which is mounted means for projecting: and retractingthe hood locking.- mechanism and in the latter compartment-.23is-arrangedthe mechanism for making andzbreaking the ignition-circuit.The compartments 22 and 23 open in opposite directionsandare divided bymeans of a partition or web 24 having a central perforation: throughwhich the lock shaft 17 extends. That part of the'lock shaft 17 Whichextends through the housing 18 is preferably threaded as shown and isflattened at one side and forms a substantially D-shaped body forcooperation With rotary elements mounted on a shaft and which havecooperating D-shaped'openings so that when the shaft is rotated theywill be similarly rofated.

In the rear' compartment 23, which is the nearest the dash, is mounted adisk 25 of insulating. material such disk being provided with a pair ofspaced spring contact fingers 26'to which areattached. ignition wires 27and saidspring. contact fingers are each secured atoneend by. means ofscrews 28 to the disk 25` and'v have their opposite endsl disposed in..spaced parallel relation to the disk 25. Al rotatable contact. element29 of insulating material is vnon-rotatably mounted upon.the lockshaft17 such rotatable contact. element being provided with a centralD-shapedopening corresponding to the shape of the lock shaft 17 and thisContact element 29 is'provided with a bridge piece 30 counter-sunk` in`one face thereof and adapted to engage'thefree ends of the contactfingers for completing the electric circuit across the contacts 26 whenthe bridge piece 80 is rotated by the Vlock shaft. A washer 31. forms aclosure for the compartment 23 and serves as a thrustwasher for thecontact element 29.

The bottom of the switch casing 18 is provided Withfan opening 48 whichforms both a drainage passage and a passage for the ignition wires 27.

In the forward compartment- 22 is disposed a disk32 whichis providedwith a D- shaped'opening by means of which it is alsonon-rotatablyxmounted upon the lock shaft 17, and said disk 32 isprovided with diametrically disposed openings 33 in which are disposedthe right angular inner end portions of operating' Wires or flexibleconnections 34 Which extend through integrally formed tangentiallyarranged nipples 35. The extremity of the lock shaft 17 is provided witha washer or disk 36 held in place by a nut 37, such washer maintainingthe bent ends of the Wires Within the apertures in the disk so that Whenthe disk is rotated said Wires will be reeiprocated. A notheii Washer 38and nut 39 may be provided for locking the first-mentioned locking nutin position. The nipples are connected by means of nuts 40 With pipes ortubes 41. formed of relatively inexpensive stiff ina-- terial. The pipesor tubes 41 form casings for the Wires 34 and extend downwardly andbeneath the upper flanges of the frame or chassis channel members 42 andlongitudinally of the said frame members and are secured thereto bymeans of clamps 43. rlhe flexible Wires 34 extend through the tubes orcasings 41 and are provided at their outer ends with locking` bolts 4 4arranged to engage fastening elements carried by the hood 1l. Thefastening elements 45 are substantially L-shaped 'and are preferablyspot Welded in vertical position to the inside of the hood so that oneside of the l.. will be disposed at substantially right angles to Vtheinner surface of the hood. The chassis or frame members 42 have theirupper inwardly extending angular ortions slotted to perinit thefastening e ements .45 to extend therethrough for engagement by thelocking bolts 44.

' .In order to permit relative adjustment between the locking bolts 44and the fastening elements 45, the fastening elements 45 are providedwith openings and slots for cooperation With oppositely arranged slotsand openings in plates 46, the parts being held together by means ofbolts 47. By this construction the plate 46 may be raised or loweredrelative to the fastening element 45 to vary the height-of the openingin the plate 46 through Which the locking bolt extends for locking thehood in closed position.

In theoperation of the device when the key i9 is turned the contactelementV 29 and bridge piece 30 carried thereby are rotated by the lockshaft 17 until the circuit across the flexible contact plates 26 iscompleted er broken and at the same time the disk 32 is rotated forprojecting and retracting the flexible Wires 34 and the locking bolts orplungers 44 from the cooperating fastening elements 45 on the hood.

lt Will be understood from the foregoing construction that the disk 25,upon which the flexible contact lingers are mounted, and the rotaryContact element 29 carrying the bridge piece 30 may be reversed and byreversing these parts it Will be unnecessary to use the thrustl Washer31.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes maybe made in my device Without departing from the spirit of the invention,and I, therefore, do not limit myself to What is shown in the drawingsand described in the specification, but only as set forth in theappended claims.

Having thus fully described my said invention, what l claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

l. rllie combination of a switch housing, a key controlled rotatablelock shaft in said housing, a. disk non-rotatably mounted on said saaftand having eccentric perforations, locking Wires having inturnedl ends journalled in said perforations, a. second disk resting against saidlocking Wires for holding them in the apertures in the first-mentioneddisk, means for holding said second disk in position, and lockingelements adapted to be engaged by said locking Wires, substantially asset forth.

f2. The combination of an automobile having a. hood, of a housingmounted beneath the hood, tangentially arranged nipples formed at. theside of the housing, pipes connected to said nipples and extending to aremote point, locking elements disposed adjacent the extremities of saidpipes, flexible members mounted in said pipes for cooperation with saidlocking elements, the inner ends of said flexible elements extendingthrough said nipples into said housing, an axially disposed shaft insaid housing, and a rotatable member mounted on said shaft, said Wiresbeing cecentrieally connected to said member whereby When the member isrotated the flexible elements will be proj eeted and retracted,substantially as set forth.

3. 'l he combination of an automobile havin a hood, of a housing mountedbeneath the hood, a lock shaft in said housing, a rotatable member onsaid lock shaft, locking elements mounted on said hood, oppositelydisposed tangentially arranged nipples formed at the sides of saidhousing, pipes connected to said nipjiles and extending to a peintadjacent said locking elements, flexible members mounted in said pipesfor cooperation With `aid locking elements. the inner ends of saidflexible members being eccentrically connected to said 'rotatable memberwhereby when the member is rotated the flexible members will bepropelled and repelled into and out of engagement with the lockingelements on the hood, substantially as set forth.

ln Witness i'vhereof, I have hereunto set my hand indianapolis, Indiana,this 23rd day of May, A. D. nineteen hundred and twentyseven. l

rnfrnn o. rmxnnfron.

